Greenhouse Gas Emissions In The United States Increased In 2025, Dropped In China,

It looks like this guy will ensure coal and oil use 
continue to spew more and more greenhouse gas
emissions into the atmosphere, but at least it looks
like China and India are trying 
to reign in fossil fuel use. 

 Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States went up by 2.4% in 2025, reversing two previous years of decreases, according to a BBC report.  

Part of the reason for the increase was just bad weather luck. January, 2025 was colder than most other recent winters. Homes burned more gas for heating than usual, while coal use rose by 13% to meet rising electricity demands. 

Data centers driven by soaring use of AI, and a raging cryptocurrency fad or industry (depending upon how how you look at it) were a big driver of the greenhouse gas emissions. 

We rightly blame Donald Trump for a bunch of new or looming environmental ills because of his militantly pro oil and coal stance. 

However the damage from Trump was probably minimal in 2025.  It'll almost surely increase starting this year. 

At least China and India seem to be counteracting the U.S. and preventing an enormous boom in emissions. Electricity generated by coal declined in India by 3%. China's coal generation was down 1.6 percent from the previous year. It's the first time since 1973 that coal-based electricity generation fell simultaneously in both countries.

 "The fall in 2025 is a sign of things to come, as both countries added a record amount of new clean-power generation last year, which was more than sufficient to meet rising demand," according to Carbon Brief, which did the analysis on India and China's greenhouse gas emissions. 

It's possible both countries are reaching a historic peak in coal use. Climatologists and other scientists are hoping from now, coal use in China and India continue to decline. 

China managed to reduce coal consumption despite electricity demand growing by 5 percent over the year. India's reduction in coal use might have been partly weather related. The extreme heat waves India has experienced in recent years were not quite as severe in 2025. 

Bottom line: We have a mixed future in further diminishing the global dependence on coal and oil. But the United States, once in a leader in the battle against climate change, has turned into the world's worst enemy. 

That seems to be a trend lately.  

European Heat Wave Killed Thousands In Disturbing Trend,, As Activists Refer To "Climate Breakdown." .

An attribution study says an early summer European 
heat wave was worsened by climate change and
killed thousands. Meanwhile, the world continues
to rack up more all time record heat waves this summer.

 A scientific group that does rapid analyses of extreme weather events to determine how climate change influenced the incidents concluded a late June and early July European heat wave killed thousands. 

Per the Guardian:

"Scientists estimate that high heat killed 2,300 people across 12 major cities as temperatures soared across Europe between June 23 and July 2.  They attributed 1,500 of the deaths to climate breakdown, which has heated the planet and made the worst extremes even hotter.

Milan was the hardest hit city in absolute terms, with 317 out of 499 heat deaths attributed to climate breakdown, followed by Paris and Barcelona. Long had 273 heat deaths, 171 of which the researchers attributed to attributed to human influence on the climate."

People have always died in heat waves, of course, but the study led by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that climate change made the heat wave worse than it otherwise would be. That added heat intensity had a disproportionate effect on deaths. 

Essentially, the scientists concluded the heat wave nearly tripled the number of deaths from heat. 

The study was part of a growing body of science called rapid attribution, which seeks to assess the cost and effects of climate-related weather events shortly after they happen. 

CLIMATE TERMINOLOGY

 As an aside, The Guardian is describing climate change in a new way that I haven't seen too much previously, but has gained a lot of use among activists in recent years: The term is  "climate breakdown"

Climate activist Greta Thunberg have the term its currency about six years ago when she said this:

"It's 2019. Can we all now please stop saying 'climate change' and instead call it what it is: climate breakdown climate crisis, climate emergency, ecological breakdown, ecological crisis and ecological emergency?"

2025 HEAT WAVES WIDESPREAD

Whatever it is, this is another summer when heat is clearly killing people, and so far, we arguably haven't had quite as many extreme heat waves as last year or the year before. But there's been plenty of horrible and sometimes deadly hot spells all over the world.  

Some example:

Finland finally just came out of its longest, most intense heat wave on record. This far northern, Scandinavian nation, endured three weeks in which daily highs were 86 degrees or higher.  

A town north of the Arctic Circle in Norway was also 86 degrees or warmer daily for almost two week. 

People who live in northern areas like Scandinavia can be especially prone to heat as it's historically uncommon there.  Nighttime heat combined with the fact it doesn't really get dark overnight near and north of the Arctic Circle in summer cause sleep disruptions. Air conditioning is rare, which is especially dangerous in retirement communities or health care settings. 

Just this week, at least 25 Japanese cities hit all time record high temperatures. Last Wednesday, the temperature in Tamba in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture reached 106 degrees, the hottest temperature on record for the entire nation. 

China is already reporting nearly 70 stations setting new August high temperature records, with six of those places setting all time records. 

Parts of Iran and Iraq have gotten as warm as 124 degrees. 

A historic heat wave hit the Northeast U.S. a month and a half ago,  breaking or tying all time June record highs in all six New England states.  

I've said his previously and it's worth saying again: Heat waves are underreported risks of climate change in most of the media. Hot spells are not "sexy" like picturesque and dramatic images of flash floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. 

Media to a large extent depends on images. And media depends on clicks - eyeballs on web sites and podcasts and such. Which means, behind the scenes, heat waves cause a lot more deaths, a lot more harm than the storms you see on the news all the time.  

The Guardian again, going back to that attribution study of European heat: 

"'This study demonstrates why heat waves are know as silent killers,' said Malcolm Mistry, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-author of the study. 'While a handful of deaths have been reported in Spain, France and Italy, thousands more people are expected to have died as a result of the blistering temperatures." 

Vietnam Reeling From Typhoon Yagi

Satellite view of intense Typhoon Yagi, shortly before
it caused an extreme disaster in Vietnam.

 While people in Louisiana deal with Hurricane Francine today, on the other side of the world Vietnam is staggering in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi.  

The storm has killed at nearly 150 people at least, with many more missing, reports the Washington Post.  It's believed to be the worst typhoon to hit Vietnam in at least three decades.

 It was the worst typhoon on record in northern Vietnam, which is usually less prone to these storms as southern parts of the nation. 

Crises hit all over the place in Vietnam. The capitol, Hanoi, was flooding as a river through the city burst its banks. Thousands have been evacuated from parts of the city and many schools are closed. 

The Guardian reports a landslide caused by flash flooding swept away an entire village, killing 16 people and leaving dozens missing. 

A metal bridge collapsed from flooding during the storm, taking five cars and four motorbikes with it, the Washington Post reported. Nine people died in that incident, but three others were rescued. 

Typhoon Yagi had winds of 125 mph, gusting to 155 when it came ashore in Vietnam.

The typhoon might seem awfully distant to us, but it could still affect you and me. As The Guardian explains: 

"Typhoon Yagi also severely damaged a large number of factories and flooded warehouses in northern Vietnam's export-oriented industrial hubs, forcing plants to shut, with some expected to take weeks to resume full operations, executives said.

The disruptions could affect global supply chains as Vietnam host large operations of multinationals that mostly export their products to the United States, Europe and other developed countries."

 Before hitting Vietnam, Typhoon Yagi struck Hainan, an island province in southern China. At landfall on that island, Yagi had top winds of around 160 mph, becoming the strongest typhoon in China in a least a decade. Four people died there.

At one point, Yagi was directly over the city of Haikou, population three million, with 140 mph winds, so it's impressive that so few people died on Hainan. 

The storm extended its reach into the Philippines, killing at least 20 people there. 

Videos:

A dash cam recorded the moment a bridge collapsed from flood waters created by Typhoon Yagi. The collapse killed several people. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Dramatic scenes from Haikou, China from Typhoon Yagi.  Note the brief view of the cars on a Ferris wheel being flung in circles in the wind. Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 Huge amounts of downed trees in Vietnam from Yagi. Click on this link or click on the image below if you see it to view:

Weather Problems/DIsasters Continue Around The World, It's Not Just the United States

Tornado damage in Guangzhou, China. 

 As I periodically like to do, here's an update on the latest weather disasters and weirdness afflicting the world outside the United States.  

It's not just the Grand Ole U.S. of A having its trouble with tornadoes and such. 

CHINESE TORNADO/FLOOD

China is also dealing with tornadoes. A powerful twister hit the huge city of Guangzhou, killing five people, injuring about three dozen and trashing about 140 factory buildings.

Guangzhou is a little northwest of Hong Kong and has a population of about 15.3 million. 

Tornadoes happen fairly frequently in China, with average of about 100 twisters a year. Nearly 1,300 people have died in Chinese tornadoes since 1961.

The province around Guangzhou has also suffered severe flooding in recent weeks. The floods have killed four people and forced 110,000 people to relocate, CNN reports. 

The weather problems in China continued this week. A massive squall line crossed much of central and southern China, packing destructive winds and large hail 

In, hail as much as 5.5  inches in diameter was reported in Sandu, Guizhou Province. That's somewhere between the diameter of a grapefruit and a one-gallon paint can

In  Guangdong province, flooding caused a busy highway to collapse, killing at least 19 people, AccuWeather reported. 

TANZANIA/KENYA FLOOD

Flooding in Tanzania has caused at least 155 deaths in the past two weeks and displaced 200,000 others.

The inundations in Tanzania are worst along the coast and in the capital, Dar es Salaam.  

The flooding in Kenya was not quite as deadly but still calamitous

Per the Washington Post:

"Social media sites were awash Thursday with images and videos of people on rooftops of submerged houses, Residents across Nairobi neighborhoods used boats to rescue those stranded by rising floodwaters. 

"Venant Ndighila, the emergency response manager of the Kenya Red Cross, said 38 deaths and 11,275 displaced people have been reported across the country. He warned about the accompanying risks, including disease outbreaks and the disruption of goods and services."

April is usually the rainy season in Tanzania and Kenya, but this was beyond the pale. 

This year, water temperatures in the Indian Ocean were above normal, a result of both El Nino and climate change. Warm ocean waters can transport more moisture inland than cooler temperatures, so rainfall becomes heavier and more dangerous. 

SOUTHEAST ASIA HEAT

Dangerous heat has once again built up across huge swaths of Asia.  One city in Vietnam reached 111.2 degrees, tying the record for hottest temperature on record anywhere in that nation. Laos reached 110.5 for the hottest temperature on record there. 

Manilla, Philippines had an all time record high of 101.8 degrees Saturday. 

In Bangladesh, temperatures as hot as 110 degrees have prompted the government to close schools. In India, a long-lasting heat wave has pushed actual temperatures to 115 degrees and the heat index to a highly dangerous 122 to 140 degrees.  There's going to be a death toll from the Indian heat for sure, but we don't have figures on that yet. 

Thailand has had record heat since March. The Washington Post reports more people have died in Thailand of heat stroke so far this year than in all of 2023. 

Records for warmest nights on record have been set in dozens of cities, including Bangkok, as overnight lows dropped only into the mid and upper 80s.

Hot nights are especially dangerous in heat waves because the lack of a cooler nighttime interlude takes a toll on the human body.  This, in turn, increases the death toll in heat waves, which are already the most deadly type of weather disaster on Earth.   

World Really Having A Hot Time This Summer. And No, It's Not Fun

 While we in Vermont have been seemingly constantly underwater in floods, and wilting in very warm temperatures and horrible humidity while we do so, the rest of the world seems to be panting its way to unprecedented warmth. 

June was the world's hottest on record.

Meanwhile, brutal heat waves are baking large areas all around the world this month, including a long, record heat wave torturing most the United States South and West.

Let's start with the worldwide June data.

WORLDWIDE JUNE SWOON

June for the world as a whole was easily the warmest on record according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.  It appears the arrival of El Nino in recent months, combined with climate change, is having the expected effect of really boosting global temperatures. 

The warmest areas relative to average were Canada once again - they've been oddly warm for months. Also, southwestern Europe, southeastern Africa, Central America, much of the Indian Ocean and the eastern Atlantic Ocean.  

The planetary ocean heat seems to be continuing, as oceans were the hottest on record for June. The Atlantic Ocean continues to over-perform.  And lately, the waters around Florida have been extremely hot - mostly in the mid-90s, with one report of 98 degrees.

If you're looking for sone shred of positive news through all this, Greenland was one of the few places on Earth that were actually a little cooler than normal in June. That limited some of the dreaded melt from that island's huge ice cap. 

The only other small pockets of comparatively cool weather on Earth in June were in the southeastern United States, parts of eastern Europe, western Australia and a patch of ocean north of Antarctica and southwest of South America. 

As I note each month, if you're 44 years old or younger, you've never seen a colder than average global month in your liftetime. 

UNITED STATES HEAT

Extreme heat has been spreading across the South and West over the past several days and seems to be peaking this weekend. 

Heat advisories and warnings stretch from southern Florida, across much of the South and on up the western United States to Washington State. 

Death Valley, California was expecting a high temperture of 128 degrees Sunday, perilously close to the reliable world record of 130 degrees. (Some sources give the world record at 134 or 136 degrees, but those were not reliable measurements, and were probably from thermometers not placed correctly).

Las Vegas has a shot at reaching 117 degrees, which would tie its all-time record for hottest temperatures. 

In some areas, the heat has been horribly, scarily persistent, which makes things all that much worse.  

As of Saturday, El Paso, Texas had experienced its 30th consecutive day with temperatures at or above 100 degrees. The old record for consecutive days there as a mere 21 days. Highs in El Paso are expected to top 100 degrees daily through at least next Saturday. 

Phoenix, Arizona appears destined to break its record of 18 consecutive days at 110 degrees or higher. It's been that hot for 15 consecutive days as of Saturday. by this Wednesday.  The forecast in Phoenix calls for daily highs at or above 112 degrees through next Saturday.

So far this summer, heat has killed 12 people in Phoenix, NPR reported. 

 Miami was under its first-ever excessive heat warning on Sunday. Yes, it's always hot and humid there in the summer, but this is out of hand, even for them. It'll "only" be in the mid-90s there today, but th humidity is extreme, so the heat index is likely to be in the 110-115 range,

Those record hot water temperatures around the Florida peninsula are contributing to the excessive humidity. Miami has seen a record 36 days in a row in which the heat index has been at or above 100 degrees, says the Washington Post. 

OTHER NOTABLE HEAT WAVES 

China reported had its hottest temperature on record, reaching 126 degrees in Sanbao. It's also the hottest it's ever been in the world north of 40 degrees latitude

Speaking of northern heat waves, it reached 100 degrees in the Northwest Territories in Canada on July 8. That's the warmest on record for the world north of 65 degrees latitude.  You can see why parts of Canada continue to be in flames. 

Much of Europe is roasting, too.  Sardinia could reach 117 degrees, which would be the hottest temperature on record for anywhere in Europe.  Rome could go past 105 degrees, breaking their all time record high.

I fully expect more record highs scattered across the world through the rest of this month and well into August. The combination of climate change and El Nino is relentless.

Here in Vermont, we continue to slog through warmth and humidity, along with our seemingly ever-present flood threat. Although it will remain quite warm and stuffy, I don't see any signs of record heat over the next week or two. 

There's your small glimmer of hope for the day. 

Not Just Vermont Who Dealt With Extreme April Heat; Check Out These Figures From Asia!

Computer imagery showed intense heat in Asia this
past Monday. Since then the heat continued south,
eased in northern China and increased in Japan/South Korea.

 Sure, we had summer in April this month in Vermont. 

But if you thought our heat wave was something, check out these temperatures from parts of Asia. Around the time we had our heat wave, here's how the Washington Post describes big swaths of Asia:

"Numerous heat records have been broken across Southeast Asia, China and other parts of the continent in recent days as the region remains in the grip of a dangerously scorching heat wave, with Thailand in particular experiencing unusually extreme conditions. Weather historian Maximiliano Herrera is describing it as the' worst April heat wave in Asian history.'"

April and May are usually Thailand's hottest months, but last week got absolutely ridiculous. The temperature last Friday reached 114 degrees in the town of Tak.  This established the record for the hottest temperature anyone has ever seen in Thailand.

As that record heat hit, Thailand was celebrating that country's New Year's festivities. Because record hot weather enveloped the country, people were advised to tamp down their parties and stay indoors to avoid heat stroke. 

Up in China, at least 109 weather stations in 12 provinces recorded their hottest April temperatures on record, says the Washington Post.  

WaPo continues: 

"The hot days had been accumulating over the past few weeks, with Yuanjiang in Hunan province having exceeded 95 degrees for 22 straight days as of last Friday."

Other nations in Asia shared in this weird heat wave. 

Bangladesh ties its national April highest temperature at 109 degrees. The Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, reached 105 degrees, its hottest temperature since 1960. Temperatures reached as high as 111 in Myanmar and 107 in Nepal.  Intense heat killed at least 13 people in India.  Concern was rising in India with memories fresh from an even more intense, deadly heat wave last year. 

As of Wednesday, the record heat had spread into Japan and the Koreas. 

Early season heat waves like the one in Asia can be more dangerous than similar hot spells later in the season.  People become somewhat acclimatized to the heat later in the season.  Early heat wave come before people's bodies are ready for it. Some evidence suggests early season heat waves can be more deadly than later ones. 

If you're a regular reader of this here blog thingy and you think I've put up a lot of posts about record heat pretty much everywhere, you're right. 

And you will have seen this disclaimer, which I need to repeat. Heat waves have always happened all over the world. Now, however, we are in a mostly man-made climate change regime. Heat waves have become more frequent, more widespread and more likely to exceed all time record highs. 

It can happen anywhere, anytime. This month, it's been in places as different from each other as Vermont and Thailand.  

Intense Cold In Corners Of China, Russia Are One Big Exception To Generally Warm Global Winter

Reports out of northeastern China (pink and red areas)
indicate parts of the region might have had all
time record low temperatures for the nation.

 It's winter, and it has to be cold somewhere, 

Better elsewhere than here in Vermont, at least as far as I'm concerned. I'm definitely no fan of temperatures far below zero. 

In northeastern China in the past couple of days, the temperature got as low as 63 below zero. I hasten to add that this is not as of yet a confirmed report. 

If the report is true and the measurement is verified as accurate,  this would be the coldest temperature recorded in China any year, anywhere. A few other areas got under 60 below in this intense cold snap.

The deep chill is spreading into adjacent North and South Korea, and on to Japan, but the chill will not set as many records there as it has in China and Russia.

Yep, I mentioned Russia. That's because before the deep cold reached China, it was in part of Russia, namely Siberia.

Around January 18, the temperature reportedly dropped to 81 below in Tongulak, Russia. Now, that's normally a very cold place that often gets into the 50s and 60s below zero in the winter. (I would NOT be able to stand that!)

Still, that 81 below, if verified would be a record low for that town, and the coldest it has reached anywhere in Russia since 1982.

Part of the reason for this intense cold is the polar vortex has been far north and tightly wound for weeks.  That has helped keep the mid-latitudes warm. Often, the polar vortex will stretch, or pieces of it will break off, causing nasty cold spells in Canada, the United States, Russia or parts of Asia.

Of course, those blasts of Arctic air get rid of some of the intense cold in the polar vortex. For weeks now, though, the polar vortex hasn't stretched, wobbled or broken, so the air under it has just been getting colder and colder and colder in the darkness of an Arctic winter. 

Now, the polar vortex is finally showing some signs of instability.  The cold in Siberia and China was probably the first effect of that. 

Meteorologists see signs that parts of the United States, especially northwestern and central parts of the nation, could see some pretty intense cold by in the final days of January and the first few days of February. 

However, we don't know quite yet exactly how cold it will get and how widespread the chill will get.

Now that I've mentioned a possible all time low temperature for a nation, I'm sure some wags or idiots will announce that proves climate change is a hoax.

Um, no. 

The amount of climate change we've had so far definitely tilts things so that the chances of record warmth are greater than that of record cold. But climate change does not entirely get rid of the chances of dramatic dips in temperature. 

One example of the this is the number of nations or territories that experienced all time hottest temperature records compared to the number that saw all time record lows.

Eleven nations and territories saw all time record highs in 2022, while three saw all time record lows. 

Hot Weekend Here, But Elsewhere In The World, Ridiculous! Our Time Will Come, Though

People in Tokyo's Ginza district use umbrellas to shield
themselves from the intense sun during a record heat
wave last Saturday. Photo from AFP-JIJI

We had our first spell of 90 degree weather in the Champlain Valley over the weekend, but it wasn't as hot as it could be. We didn't set any real record highs.  

If you don't like heat, we got off easy. Especially since the hot spell in Vermont was brief, and it wasn't all that humid during this episode.

Elsewhere in the world, though, we're already having another summer of insane record high temperatures. I've already posted about the extreme European heat of a week or two ago, but since then, there have been other incredible hot spots. 

So let's dive in and look.

As the Associated Press reports:

"In China's northern Henan province Friday, Xuchang hit 107.8 degrees and Dengfeng hit 106.9 for their hottest days on record, according to global extreme weather tracker Maximiliano Herrera. And in Japan Friday, Tokamachi and Tsuanan set a time heat records while several cities broke monthly marks, he said." 

No fewer than 25 cities in China recorded their hottest temperature on record for any date of the year Froday. Beijing roasted at 102 degrees.

Tokyo, Japan just tied its record for the hottest June day with a high of 97 degrees, which was also hottest for so early in the season. At least nine other Japanese cities established new all time highs for June. 

Isesaki, a city about 50 miles north of Tokyo, reached 104 degrees Saturday, setting a new June record high for the entire nation of Japan.  

 Way up in Siberia, The town of Tazovskoe set a June record of 90 degrees. Some Arctic islands way up near the North Pole, near 80N have lost all of their snow, the earliest on record that it has disappeared in the summer. 

Parts of the Middle East and central Asia area also baking.  The port cit of Bander-e-Dayyer in Iran reached a whopping 127 degrees this past week.  The temperature reached 113 in Turkmenistan and 112 in Kazakhstan.  

The heat in the United States hasn't set all time records, but it has certainly been widespread.  No fewer than 15 states reported high temperatures of at least 100 degrees on Thursday. 

The hot weather is temporarily easing in the U.S. for the next couple of days, though heat advisories remained in effect for the Pacific Northwest through Monday.  No really extreme heat waves are in store for the nation at least through July 1.

But remember, there's plenty of time for renewed heat waves in July and August throughout the northern hemisphere.

The heat records I mentioned above have been coming fast and furiously.  Same has been true in the last few years, as I've noted above.

Of course, records are made to be broken, so you're always going to see a few record highs and a few record lows broken from time to time. But the fast pace of these heat waves - especially monthly and all time - is a hallmark of climate change.

Climate change is super charging heat waves. What would otherwise be forgettable hot spells have become unprecedented blasts of torrid conditions.

It can happen anywhere, anytime. I've said that so far, we in Vermont have had a Goldilocks summer. Sure it was hot this past weekend and chilly the weekend before, but we haven't had any kind of unprecedented weather so far. 

Overall, this summer is at least starting out cooler than recent ones. But there's nothing stopping us for experiencing heat Vermont has never seen before. It's really a matter of time with climate change. 

I don't know if that will happen this summer, next summer or a few or several summers from now. But eventually, Vermont's all time hottest reading of 105 degrees, set way back in 1911, and Burlington's all time record of 101 set during the World War II year of 1944, will seem quaint and cool. 

 

Foreign Media Attacked In China Flood Zone

Severe flooding in China this month. Journalists covering
the disaster have been attacked by people after the communist
government whipped up nationalistic fervor. 

Well, this is alarming.

Western journalists sent to and near Zhengzhou, China to report on extreme flooding there have been attacked and harassed by locals, almost surely egged on by the authoritarian and nationalistic Chinese government. 

The Guardian reports:

"As recovery and rescue efforts continue in Henan province after last week's deadly floods, groups including Reporters Without Borders and the Foreign Correspondents Club of China have condemned recent harassment and threats toward journalists covering the disaster."

Reporters from the BBC, Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, CNN, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press, among others, have been harassed.

Local Chinese employees of foreign news outlets have also been harassed and doxed.  

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China released a Twitter thread Tuesday detailing examples of the abuse. 

A crew with the Associated Press was stopped and reported to police for filming in a public area. Reporters with Agence France Presse were forced to delete footage by hostile residents. 

Local employees of the news agencies received death threats, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said. 

Meanwhile, the BBC said the Chinese Communist Party put up social media posts asking citizens to post the whereabouts of BBC  crews covering the flood. Public comments posted to the Communist Party message included death threats against journalists. 

Chinese government minions are doing this because, as usual, there's a truth to power thing going on. Reporters are documenting a lack of preparedness, relief shortfalls and post-disaster relief missteps in China, and the Powers That Be don't like that. 

So, the Chinese Communist Party resorts to whipping up nationalistic sentiment to discourage journalists. The citizens become pawns and do the dirty work of the Communist Party. 

It is always difficult for residents of a disaster zone to deal with the media.  People generally want to tell their stories and journalists are always willing to oblige, But the heavy presence of the media sometimes feels like the rest of the debris: They're in the way and have to be moved. 

This dynamic is usually manageable, but not always in China and other authoritarian regimes. Worse, even many western democracies are becoming more authoritarian and encouraging harassment of journalists. 

This happens even in the United States. You see how the Trump cult often attacks journalists who don't stick to the cult's whackadoodle idea of "reality." Trump kept calling reporters "enemies of the people," after all. Jeesh! 

As climate change accelerates, so too will big weather disasters.  Big disasters tend to both increase political stability and in large segments of the population, increase the appeal of authoritarian governments. 

We talk about feedback loops in climate change.  An example: Arctic ice melts, exposing darker water. Darker water absorbs more of the sun's heat than ice, so the warmth in the Arctic accelerates, melting more ice and on and on. 

What we're seeing in China is perhaps a political dimension of a climate change feedback loop, or at least an example of what we could see more of.

Climate change creates or worsen a disaster.  Governments then try to muzzle the press to hide their own missteps, to deflect the spotlight away from their own disaster or climate change policies. That prevents needed information from getting out, and erodes democracy.  It becomes the new normal, and it feeds on itself, and spreads. 

News organizations and others should really keep up the pressure on China and anyone else who interferes with the media gathering information on disasters, or anything else for that matter.

I would like to see the Biden administration call out China on this as well. 

We can't ignore these abuses.

 

Extreme Flooding, Storms Keep Popping Up

Extreme flooding in Zhenghou, China this week.

 Massive storms and flooding keep popping up in various parts of the world as extreme weather events become the new normal.  After the cataclysmic flooding in Germany, new big water disasters occurred this week in China, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Turkey and Arizona. 

CHINA

Enormous floods in China this week killed at least two dozen people, mostly in Henan province, In that regions capital, Zhengzhou,   The amount of rain that normally falls over the course of a year came in just three days, the BBC reports.  

Two feet of rain fell there just on Tuesday, which is the same amount as Zhengzhou's normal rainfall for an entire year. Eight inches of that coming within just one hour.  

According to meteorologist Minghao Zhou on Twitter, it's a record for any of the 2,400 reporting stations in China, and might be a world record for the most intense downpour in a city of more than 10 million. Zhengzhou is home to about 12 million. 

This is another case of extreme weather this year far exceeding previous records. Happening a lot, isn't it?

 The inevitable result was a catastrophic flood that sent deep water through most of the city.   There's harrowing video circulating on social media of subway passengers in Zhengzhou trapped in chest and neck deep water inside rail cars. 

Twelve people died in the subways and stations, though another 1,000 or so were rescued from train cars and underground stations, according to The Guardian. 

As the Guardian notes, China has pretty bad flooding every summer, but rapid urbanization, paving over farmland and climate change have all conspired to create a worsening, deadlier trend in the nations' flooding issues. 

TURKEY

Extreme flooding also hit the Black Sea region of Turkey over the past week or so, causing at least six deaths. Video showed deep rushing water swirling around high rise buildings and cars bouncing along in the rapids. Other video showed houses toppling into raging rivers. 

Floods are common in this part of Turkey in the summer, but again, these were much worse than usual. 

NEW ZEALAND

Parts of New Zealand have also been afflicted by record setting floods this month. Rivers in the Marlborough region of the nation hit record crests after nearly a foot of rain fell over two days last week. 

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the floodwaters.  New flood control walls and dikes did help prevent damage in some areas along the flooded rivers. 

ARIZONA

Flash flooding is also common in Arizona in mid to late summer, as monsoon moisture flows into the state, setting off intense desert thunderstorms. 

The state was looking forward to this year's monsoon season, as the area was deep in severe drought and monsoons in recent summers have been lackluster at best.  

Now, Arizona is getting too much of a good thing. 

Deep in drought, Arizona welcomed a more robust monsoon season this month which has dumped rain on the parched state. But suddenly, parts of Arizona are getting too much of a good thing. 

Flash flooding has really become a serious issue out there. You might have seen the video of the Prius being swept away in a dramatic Flagstaff, Arizona flash flood last week, for instance. The city of Flagstaff has declared a state of emergency because of the flooding. 

It's going to get worse today. NOAA's Weather Prediction Center says there's so much moisture pooling in Arizona that rainfall rates could reach two to four inches per hour in the worst thunderstorms.  This would cause some pretty extreme flash flooding in a part of the nation where an inch of rain can set off pretty big floods and debris flows.

A weather disturbance moving westward from Texas will help intensify today's desert rains. 

The flash floods that have already hit the Flagstaff area were made much worse by debris flows from areas hit by flooding. 

Today, the areas at biggest risk are in and near where large wildfires burned this year and last. Massive debris flows are likely. 

Floods have always occurred and will always occur.  But in general, they're generally worse than in the past because of climate change. 

Warmer air can hold more moisture. That means, if other factors come together to produce storms, chances are the rainfall rates will be higher than if climate change were not a factor. 

For us Vermonters watching all this bad news, at least we have nothing exciting coming up in the next few days.  It might rain, especially Saturday night and maybe Sunday, but no flooding is in the forecast.

 

 

Tornadoes In Odd Places Wreak Havoc. Also, A Quick Non-Tornadic Vermont Update

Extreme tornado damage in the Czech Republic this week. 

Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms are a common hazard in the United States in early summer, but lately, the news is filled with news of tornadoes in places worldwide you don't necessarily expect.

Damaging tornadoes have struck the Czech Republic, China, London, England, and as we talked about the other day, Quebec. 

CZECH, LONDON TORNADOES

Arguably the worst of the tornadoes hit the Czech Republic

The tornado in the Czech Republic trashed several villages along a 15-mile path. In addition to the five deaths it caused,  about 100 people were injured and many homes damaged or destroyed.  In one village with a population of 1,600 people, at least one third of the houses were destroyed and only 15% of them were fully intact, said the BBC.

Judging by the photos, this was probably an EF-3 or EF-4 tornado.  

Scary video of this tornado taken by somebody as it approached, then trashed their house while they were inside. Pro tip: When there's a tornado, hide in basement or sturdy interior room. Stay away from the windows!!

Tornadoes are common in Europe but strong ones aren't. In the decade ending in 2020, there were 3,827 tornadoes in Europe, but only 28 of them were strong or violent, meaning EF-3 or higher, according to the European Severe Storms Laboratory. 

Specifically in the Czech Republic, tornadoes are rare and tend to be weak, not violent like the one this week.  The nation usually gets a few weak tornadoes each year. 

A couple of these relative weaker, but still dangerous tornadoes hit other European countries this week Video showed a tornado unroofing a hilltop building in France.

Another apparent tornado hit Barking, in east London Friday. Video on social media showed a whirl in the clouds that looked a bit like a cinnamon bun, and debris swirling in a circle beneath it. Video on social media from one Barking neighborhood showed trees snapping off, roof tiles lifting off buildings and walls lining yards toppling. 

The UK on average has about 35 tornadoes per year, most of them comparatively weak like the one Friday in Barking, London

CHINA TORNADO

A violent tornado struck China's Inner Mongolia province Friday, with six people recorded there.  This is reportedly the sixth violent, damaging tornado in China this spring and early summer. Other than this one, one of the worst was at the start of the month, when another strong tornado hit China's northeast Heilongjiang province, killing one person and injuring 16 others. 

QUEBEC UPDATE

As we reported earlier this week, an EF-2  tornado hit a suburb north of Montreal Monday, killing one person and causing widespread damage to homes in the town of Mascouche.

It turns out that was one of four tornadoes in the severe weather outbreak in Quebec Monday. Another, weaker tornado hit St. Valentin, Quebec.  This was only 14 miles north of Alburgh, Vermont.  I watched that parent supercell on radar, starting from when it caused straight line wind damage in the northern tip of New York.  Radar images did look tornado-ish to me as the storm crossed into Quebec. Now we know.   

This home was pulled from its foundation and destroyed
by a tornado in Quebec on Monday.

There were rotating storms in Vermont that day that had the potential to unleash brief tornadoes, but none are known to have touched down. 

Another tornado hit in central Quebec and another struck just south of Quebec City on Monday. 

VERMONT FORECAST

Certainly no tornadoes are in the Vermont forecast for the next few days. 

There will be heat, lots of humidity and slim chances of needed rain over the next few days. There's potential for a better chance of rain later in the week, but we'll have to wait and see on that.  

Showers were trying to skirt far northern Vermont this morning.  I've had just sprinkles so far here in St. Albans, Vermont.  There might be a few more showers, especially north today, but I don't think it will amount to all that much. 

Sunday and Monday will be classic summer days, with many of us around 90 degrees with high humidity. Nights, of course will be stuffy.  Only widely scattered showers and storms will pop up in the afternoons and evenings but most of us won't see any activity. 

Depending on where a slow moving or stalled weather front sets up in the second half of the week, we have a shot at some decent rains, but a lot can go wrong with that prospect. The front will stall, or nearly stall somewhere. If it stalls over or close to us, we get a jackpot of rain, 

But the way our luck is, it's stalled now over southern Quebec, bringing rain there. Then it could zip right through Vermont, giving us little rain, then stall to our south, giving them the precipitation. 

I'm totally unsure on that one, but the chances of missing out again seem real to me. Stay tuned! 

Video of the Czech tornado. Click on the YouTube logo to make it bigger and easier to see: